Thursday, July 28, 2016

Do-Overs (From the Archives)

A friend of mine from high school shared an interesting article on Facebook titled, Those Top 37 Things You'll Regret When You're Old. As I skimmed the list, I found myself saying "Amen!" to several of the items, some because I completely believed in the wisdom being shared and to others because they hit close to home.

Regrets... As far as regrets go, I try not to expend much energy thinking about them because, more often than not, the things we consider to be regrets are things that we cannot change. Like Zac Brown sang...

"Save your strength for things that you can change, forgive the ones you can't. You gotta let it go."

But, there are some moments from my life that, if given the opportunity, I would definitely do differently the second time around. I'm not necessarily labeling these things as regrets, but things I definitely "do-overs."

1) I would've attended the Kentucky Derby when I was in my 20s, when I had a greater tolerance for crowds and craziness, and could endure the infield. If I ever make it to the Derby, I want a real seat, and by real I mean a chair in the grandstands that is under cover and out of the elements. I simply don't have the tolerance for the atmosphere of the infield anymore.

Photos via Pinterest

2) In lieu of taking that crazy, impractical Russian language satellite course in high school I would've opted for practical Spanish instead. But, hey, it's good to know that if I ever find myself in Moscow, that I can, with confidence, ask someone for the location of the subway! (Understanding their response, well, that's a completely different story.)

Гдеметро ?

3) I would've paid more attention to how my Granny B. made several of her "signature" dishes because she didn't follow or leave a written recipe. She passed ten years ago and there are still times in which I'd give anything to taste her mac 'n cheese one more time.4) My Grandpa B. and I didn't talk much because we had a difficult time finding common ground. Being from different generations and having very strong and opposing views on the roles of women only complicated our relationship. I do wish, however, that I would've asked him more about his involvement in WWII. He fought in the European Theater under Patton in the final days of the Battle of the Bulge. That's honestly all that I know and I'm ashamed that I didn't make it a point to learn more while he was alive.5) I would've abandoned the novelCold Mountainwithin the first 50 pages instead of laboriously torturing myself for a month in order to finish it. No one deserves to be subjected to that kind of torture! This is what I felt like reading it...

6) I would've seen Aviatar in the theater so I could've enjoyed all the colors of the movie on the BIG screen.

7) I would've tried learning to ski or snowboard earlier in my life. By the time I attempted to learn, I was already in my mid 30s and it was tough. Who knows? Had I started at a younger age, I could've been the female version of Danny Davis...

8) I wouldn't have wasted my time or my money seeing Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones or Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) in the theater. That's 4 hours and 21 minutes of my life I can never get back!

9) I grew up within 75 miles of some of the finest white water in West Virginia, but never rafted until I was in my mid 30s. Knowing how much I enjoy being on the river and how happy rafting makes me, I wish I would've started a long time ago.

If given the chance to tweak or do-over some things from your past, would you? If so, what are those things? As always, thanks for stopping by!

*Periodically, I unearth old blog entries from my first year of blogging that didn't receive many views in order to give them new life. Any blog entry that is being given a second shot will feature "From the Archives" after the title. This entry was originally published on August 5, 2015. It has been edited for grammatical errors and updated in terms of dates, accuracy, and personal preferences.

love this! i had no desire to watch the new star wars even though i'm a huge star wars fan because it just didnt' look good to spend the $$ for it! and life is way too short for shitty books; if a book doesn't capture me in the first 3 chapters, it gets turfed.

ugh, the pictures from the derby look horrible! i have been 3 or 4 times i think? and it never looked like that, probably because i just didn't go to those areas, if that makes sense. but it FEELS like that more and more every year. like, legit we are talking about getting proper seats next year, and guess what, i'll be 30. haha. can't be bothered standing all day!never read cold mountain, i will make sure i never do!

I love posts like this! I feel like there are a lot of things I'd love to change about my choices in life. I try not to regret things, but I definitely do. I don't want to get too deep or sad here (so I won't), but I completely agree with #3. My grandmother made red velvet cake every year at Christmas and didn't really follow a recipe. After she started getting really sick, my mom tried to replicate it one year using the "recipe" she had. It definitely wasn't the same. I mean, it wasn't awful ... But it wasn't HER cake, you know? I never even thought to ask to help her make it while she was alive so that I could learn the recipe. I wasn't into cooking or baking back then. (I'm still not that into baking, but I would definitely bake that cake!)

Hi, I'm visiting on the A-Z Roadtrip and I've really enjoyed looking around your blog. I share your love of reading but envy you the nerve to white water raft and snowboard. I'm not particularly sporty nor a good swimmer. Re this post, I think we all have some regrets and could do a few do overs but the important thing is to try and learn from our mistakes. If I'd stuck with one of my mistakes I wouldn't be happily married to my hubby of 32 years! lol

Thank you for stopping by! I love white water rafting and think it will be something I can continue doing even as I get older. The snowboarding... Well, that's a different story. It was tough and unfortunately I don't live close enough to a ski area to put in the adequate time needed to get better. I totally agree with the learning thing and moving forward.

Funnily enough I was saying to my girlfriend yesterday how I wish i had asked my Grandparents more questions, but being so young I can understand that I just didn't think to. I haven't seen Avatar so I will have to, oh and I agree Birman just didn't do it for me. I could appreciate the cinematography but it still sucked as a story. #mg